Olive were a dance/breakbeat/trip hop group from the North of England. The founding membership consisted of producer, instrumentalist and songwriter Tim Kellett, producer & keyboard programmer Robin Taylor-Firth, & singer Ruth-Ann Boyle. The band released two albums, the second without Taylor-Firth, before ceasing activity.
They are best known for the UK number-one single "You're Not Alone". Following Simply Red's 1991 album Stars, which garnered the band's greatest commercial success in the UK and worldwide at the time, Tim Kellett, last among its original lineup (as trumpet player), left the band. Meanwhile, Robin Taylor-Firth had decided to branch out though continuing with George Evelyn's techno/hip hop project Nightmares on Wax. The two met through a mutual friend who had recently joined Simply Red as bassist, and formed a musical collaboration (Taylor-Firth cites the disparity between his relatively "underground" work among Sheffield's electronic music and DJ community, and Kellett's mainstream history).
Reception
At the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards (May 28, 1998), Kellett and Taylor-Firth received the Best Dance Music award for "You're Not Alone". The song was also covered as a 2002 single by German dance producer ATB. During the American leg of the Trickle promotional tour, the band suggested that 60-70% of their audience demographic at the time was gay. This was recognized to the extent that the final show of the tour was played at the San Francisco Pride festival. Today, Olive is generally placed alongside mid-1990s trip hop/electronica artists such as Moloko, Beth Orton, and the Sneaker Pimps.
Discography
Albums
* 1996 – Extra Virgin (RCA)
* 2000 – Trickle (Maverick)
Singles
* 1996 – "Miracle" (RCA)
* 1996 – "You're Not Alone" (RCA)
* 1997 – "Miracle" (remix) (RCA)
* 1997 – "You're Not Alone" (remix) (RCA)
* 1997 – "Outlaw" (RCA)
* 2000 – "I'm Not in Love" (Maverick)
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